


overture

by oiyukis



Series: Infinitus Elysium [1]
Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Glitch Text, M/M, Minor Character Death, Pre-Relationship, Very Slight Continuity Changes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-21 15:24:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7392961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oiyukis/pseuds/oiyukis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tr̨us͘t ͟iń m̧ę.̨ ͝ Fi҉nd͢ ̕J̶udar</p>
            </blockquote>





	overture

**Author's Note:**

> I've got a few more parts of this in the works, so I decided since Hallow is now running, I might as well get my motivation up! Slight continuity changes in that Il Ilah is now a title, not a character, and it's Gyokuen's title.

Hakuryuu is still trying to catch his breath when Kokuhyou stops breathing, body freezing over like a statue. Hakuryuu pushes himself up, but he can’t convince his legs to move. Whatever had been done to Kokuhyou had made him much stronger than Hakuryuu. He’d barely made it out of the fight in one piece, and that was mostly thanks to Zagan’s healing abilities. If Belial had been available, and Hakuryuu had taken it instead—

He shakes his head, halting the thought it its tracks. He can’t dwell on that. He can’t move his legs yet, but he can feel Zagan’s power crawling up through his veins. He’ll need to head back the moment he can move again. Alibaba and the others are fighting Seiryuu back at the ship together. They’ll probably be faring better than Hakuryuu’s solo attempt, but Hakuryuu wants to help if he can. Kokuhyou hadn’t said much in the end, but he and Seiryuu had known Hakuryuu’s brothers. If there’s anything Seiryuu can tell him . . .

Hakuryuu looks up at the sound of a crack. There’s a deep cut on Kokuhyou’s shoulder. Hakuryuu watches in horrified fascination as something wiggles its way out of the wound. It shakes for a moment before spreading night-black wings; a butterfly.

“What?”

Hakuryuu doesn’t hear the footsteps until it’s too late. Behind him, a voice says, “Egh, _gross_.”

Hakuryuu twists as much as he can, but his legs still don’t want to move. The man standing before him is dressed in a fancy suit, long hair pulled back into a messy-looking braid. He’s got a top-hat tucked under his arm, bangs pinned away from his forehead to show off a crown of black stigmata.

 _Noah_.

Hakuryuu has heard about the enemy clan, but he’s never met one in person. What little he knows about them comes from rumors and hearsay, and the reports of the incident in Balbadd a year ago. Alibaba and Aladdin had faced one in the city square. It had been a short battle, but the results were devastating. Alibaba had barely survived, Aladdin had been in recovery for weeks, and they’d lost three other exorcists and Innocence alike.

Hakuryuu’s mouth feels dry. He doesn’t need to be touching Zagan to use its healing ability, so he hadn’t tried to retrieve it from the other side of the clearing where it had been kicked at the tail end of the battle. Hakuryuu regrets that now. He’s weaponless and vulnerable, legs still stiff and heavy from fatigue and injury. There’s nothing he can do.

The Noah snaps his fingers. “Stuck on clean-up again. Get over here.”

Hakuryuu doesn’t know who the Noah is talking to until he hears the soft sound of wings. He doesn’t turn back to watch Kokuhyou’s body. Hearing it is enough, too much. There’s a splurch and gurgle that Hakuryuu knows is a corpse hitting the ground, and then a rush of wind blows past him from behind. Hakuryuu watches as a mass of dark butterflies moves past him and straight for the Noah. He can feel wings brushing against his skin as some fly too close to him, but they don’t burrow or sting. They fly into the Noah’s open palms, disappearing under the skin until only a black splotch is left as evidence on both of the white gloves.

The Noah doesn’t seem to notice he’s sharing the clearing with Hakuryuu. He continues to make small, disgusted noises under his breath as he wipes his palms on his pants. Hakuryuu swallows, “What did you do to him?”

“Ah!” The Noah blinks at Hakuryuu. “How long have you been here?”

Hakuryuu grits his teeth, digging his nails into his ankle. _Move_ , he tells himself. _Move_!

The Noah crouches down, casually inspecting his nails through his gloves. “I didn’t even notice you. You _could_ see the Tease, right? Normal people scream.” He laughs. “I guess that means you’re not normal.”

He reaches out. Hakuryuu flinches out of habit. The Noah pats his coat, hand smacking against the silver buttons. “This is an exorcist get-up, right? You’re part of the Order? Lucky break!” He leans closer, red eyes glinting. “Do you have the Heart?”

Hakuryuu jerks back, slapping the Noah’s hands away. “What did you do to Kokuhyou? Why--!” He takes a breath. “You killed him! Why?”

The Noah laughs, waving his hands. He sits back, dropping to the ground in a quiet rush of fabric. “He was my enemy. Why shouldn’t I have killed him?”

Panic rising in Hakuryuu’s throat. It’s a stupid move, but he looks away from the Noah to where Zagan is stuck in the ground. Too far away. He can’t move. If the Noah plans to target him next, Hakuryuu is as good as dead.

“Is that your Innocence?” The Noah tilts his head, studying it without moving. “It doesn’t look like the Heart. That’s disappointing.” He pulls his braid over his shoulder, playing with the tail end. “You haven’t tried to run yet, though. So I guess I can answer your questions.”

Hakuryuu bares his teeth, but the Noah just laughs in his face again. He desperately hopes Alibaba and Aladdin have finished their fight. This forest is huge, but they know to search for him after they’re done. Alone, Hakuryuu has no chance at taking out a Noah. They’ll have a shot together.

Or, by the time they get there he’ll already be dead, the Noah will be gone, and Hakuryuu’s Innocence will be in the hands of the Noah clan.

“Those were called Tease,” the Noah says. “They grow inside humans. That old exorcist was like their nursery. And after a while, they don’t need a nursery anymore.” He makes a vague explosive hand gesture. “Nasty.”

Hakuryuu stares. “You . . . harvest people? That’s what your ability is?”

“ _No_ ,” the Noah pulls a face. He seems to find the assumption insulting. “They’re just _things_.” His expression turns sly, the kind of look some of the more sadistic Generals get before taking out an Akuma. “My ability is _this_.”

Hakuryuu doesn’t realize what’s happening until the Noah’s arm is already inside him. Hakuryuu takes a shaky breath, looking down at the arm that’s shoved through his chest. It doesn’t hurt. It’s like nothing is there at all.

“I can pass through anything I want,” the Noah says brightly. “I can choose to stop passing through at any point, too. For example, if I wanted to graze your heart . . .”

Hakuryuu feels something then, a soft pinching in his chest.

“. . .well, I could pull it right out if I wanted.”

Hakuryuu thinks back to the streets of Reim, the bodies of the other exorcists with single red splotches on the front of their jackets. As if the Noah can read his mind, he laughs, “This is how your friends died. Should I kill you too?”

This is it, Hakuryuu thinks. He’s going to die like this, without finding out the truth about what happened to his family. Without confronting the Order about the cover-up. Without doing any of that. And yet, Hakuryuu can’t find it in him to panic. There’s a strange sort of calm, white-noise in his mind. There’s a static-fuzz feeling behind his ears, like he’s been lightheaded for too long.

 _D̨o̴n'̢t ͞fig̨ht t͘h̶is.̷._ , something whispers to him. _Tr̨us͘t ͟iń m̧ę.̨ ͝_

The Noah stares at him for a moment, eyebrows furrowing together. His expression falls and he yanks his arm out of Hakuryuu without doing any damage. “You’re no fun. But I guess that’s fine. If I had gotten carried away, I’d be punished.” He makes a face.

He grips Hakuryuu’s neck with the same hand that had been in his chest. He doesn’t press down yet, but there’s enough pressure behind his fingers to promise he will if he decides to.  He sighs like whatever he’s about to do is the most taxing thing he’s ever done before. “Do you know what the Heart is?”

Hakuryuu frowns, but stays silent. His first thought is of moments before, when the Noah had been ready to rip his out. His second is something a little more diluted, a grainy memory of his older brothers leaving for their last mission.

“Do you know who has it?” the Noah asks.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“ _Hah_? That’s so boring,” the Noah complains. “Doesn’t your Order tell you anything these days? The Heart is the source of the Innocence. If the source is destroyed--.” He stops himself with a _tsk_ , glancing away. His expression is queasy for a second, before he focuses again on Hakuryuu. “I almost said too much there, huh?”

He rests his chin on his free hand, his next sigh sounding more like a hum. “It’s too bad you’re not the Heart. I’d have an excuse to keep you around, then. You’re really strange.”

Hakuryuu imagines most exorcists would have tried to get away at this point. If he could move, he would.

_T͠h̷er҉e is͠ ǹơt͠h̨i҉n̸g̨ ͟st̸op̵pi̡n͠ǵ ̢us͟.̸_

“But you aren’t, and _that thing_ says we should kill any other exorcists we come across. I guess I could give you a choice, though, for being entertaining. How do you want to die?”

Hakuryuu grits his teeth, glaring. How does he want to die? What kind of question—

Suddenly, Hakuryuu’s neck is free and the Noah’s hand is in his chest again. He can feel it this time, a foreign presence burrowing into his body. It’s not painful, but it’s uncomfortable. He wants to retch.

“You took too long,” the Noah says. “Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of your Innocence after you’re gone.”

“No—”

“It won’t hurt.” The Noah squeezes his fingers a little and shadows race across Hakuryuu’s vision. “It’ll be like falling asleep.”

It turns out the Noah isn’t lying about that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

̨ _On t͠he͝ n̢i͡g͠h̡t a̵ ҉thơus͏a͜nd d̷rea͞m̡s͞_  
_͝tric̀k̀led̸ b̛ack t̶o ͏t̸he ̶ear̕th_  
_͜thȩ ̧shin͜i̢ng͟ y̶o͝u͡ was̢ born_

Hakuryuu can’t see anything, but he knows the moon is full and high in the sky, and he knows it casts shadows across the lake. He’s ankle deep in the water, lighter than he thinks he should be, a faint buzzing in his ears. He’s not sure where the singing is coming from, soft and patient. In front of him is a hollow city, behind is nothing but abyss. There are only a few stars in the black sky above him, so . . . from below?

Hakuryuu looks down. He doesn’t have a reflection in the lake water. There’s a shadow there instead, the same height as him but without a distinct form. It’s human-sized, but looks more like a cape that’s been draped over someone’s shoulders. White, hollow eyes look up at Hakuryuu.

_O̷̢n͏̀ ̛͘͞͞t̴̡͘͜h̕͟e̸̵̴͟ ̸̸ń̸̕͢͢i̷̢҉ģ̸̶h͟͝͏t̷̴͝͡ ̧͜͞á̸̴҉̀ ̵̢̨́t͡h͝͡҉̛́o̶͏̀̀͜ứ́͟͞s̸̴̸̢̛à̡҉̨͟n̢͝d̴̶̕ ̨͝d́r̷̢̧͞e͢͠a̶̢͝͏ḿ̷̵͟s͢_

_͘͜͞҉҉t̡́́ŕ̕i̷͢͏ć̴͘͢k̴̸͠l͟e̸̵͠d̴̛ ̨̨b̷̨͡͝ą̶̛c҉̷͞k̴̨̡͜͜ ̴͢͞͞͠t̛͡o̢͘ ̶̸̡͟͝t̛͏͡h́͟͢͠é̶͢ ̸̡͜ȩ͘͞ąŕ̨͝͡t̵̡h̸̡̀̀_

_̴̸̧͘͝t̶̨͜h̴̴̢̀e̕͏̛̕͢ ̶̨̛ş̴͟͠h̷̀͝i̸͘ń́̕i͏̷̢̡҉n̶̸̡͘͝ǵ̴̛͘͜ ̧͘͟͝y̵͠o̷̴̡͠ú̶̧͜ ̴͞ẃ̴͜͠a̸҉͝ş̶̶͝͡ ̢҉b̷̛́o̶҉͘͜r_ ̵̵͝n҉̀́͢͞

Hakuryuu doesn’t have arms to reach up and cover his ears. He isn’t sure he has a body, either, but he can look around and see things even though it’s too dark to see anything. He knows if he ventures deep enough into the empty city, he won’t be able to retrace his steps. He knows the water in the lake isn’t water.

He knows the melody that’s drifting up from the shadow. Nobody had ever sung him to sleep. He has no memory of learning the song in his childhood, but he knows it, and he knows it’s a lullaby.

It’s usually sung by . . . a different voice.

_Ca͟͝n͞ ̶͜͠ý̕͜o͡u͏̴ ̵̧h̶͡͠e̶a͞r ̸̕m͞e̵̷?̧_

Hakuryuu hangs his head, closing his eyes. He can see the shadow behind his eyelids.

̸̷̧ _L͠é҉t̡͘ m̶̢e͏ ̀͢i̛͢n̴͞. ̶̀͢?_

The melody is overwhelming, louder in his ears and pulsing through his bones. It’s not a heavy tune, it’s light and airy and lovely, but it rattles Hakuryuu to his core.

̢́͢͟͡ _T̨͏͘ŕ̸͜͟ư̴ş̧͟͡t̸͝ ̶͞i̢̡ņ̶̛̀ ͟͢m͏̷͠͝è̵̸̕͜.͏̷̢͏̨ ̵̧̛̛._

Hakuryuu opens his eyes, and this time he’s faced with a light sky. It looks like dawn, the clouds sluggishly moving across the pale sky. His heart is racing, intact and where it’s supposed to be, but Hakuryuu knows that’s impossible. He had died. He had been in . . . limbo? Hell?

His mouth tastes like blood, tongue thick with static. Hakuryuu pushes himself up. He’s still in the clearing, though at least a day has passed. Did anyone come looking for him? Did they assume he was dead and just leave his body behind? Or, did that Noah . . .

_J̞̙̣̥͎̤͎u͏̪̝̞͓̗d͎̹̣͚a̼͚r_

Hakuryuu drops his head to his hands, wincing at the voice echoing through his mind. It’s loud. It’s the same voice that had been singing to him from the lake.

_Fi҉nd͢ ̕J̶udar_

Hakuryuu grits his teeth, looking around the clearing. Zagan is gone, probably broken into pieces and devoured by whatever the Noah use to erase Innocence. Belial is somewhere at the bottom of the ocean, thrown overboard during the first wave of Akuma that had attacked. If the other exorcists hadn’t come for him, but they weren’t dead, they were probably pushing on to Parthevia. Without Innocence, meeting them there will be useless. He needs to think . . . there has to be a way to get at least one of them back . . .

 _Find Judar_.

Hakuryuu doesn’t know who that’s supposed to be.

But there’s nothing else he can do. He’s supposed to be dead, but he isn’t. He’s been abandoned, possibly. He might as well go his own way, for a little while anyway. Hakuryuu nods to himself, moving on unsteady feet toward the end of the clearing.

As Hakuryuu leaves the clearing behind, the voice in his head quiets. He realizes then that he’s been crying.

  

  

  

Judar finishes scrubbing off his gloves with a certain panache, thrusting them toward the sky and waving them around in an attempt to dry them off. He’s feeling pretty good about today, even with the extra effort he had to exert to control the Tease. He hadn’t found the Heart, but he’d made sure to kill that exorcist in case he was smart enough to piece Judar’s slips together. Il Ilah, or, well, Gyokuen will never know.

Later, as Judar slides back on the dry gloves, his heart throbs in his chest. It’s enough to give him pause, to worry if he really had overdone it with his power. It’s never happened before, the other Noah are always warning him about it being a consequence. He feels around his chest, resting his hand over his heartbeat.

Normal.

Judar sighs, flopping back in the air. He’s not too high off the ground, just enough so dirt and mud from the shore of the river don’t get on his clothes. He’ll report back to Gyokuen soon enough, but for now he just wants to relax a little.

He digs around his pockets for a while, eventually pulling the silver buttons he’d taken from the exorcists. He turns them over in his hands, eventually stopping to read their names. 周 黒彪 is engraved on the back of the first. He’d been the nursery, if Judar remembers right. He never really commits the exorcists who make deals with the Noah to memory. But the other one . . . he’d been interesting. He hadn’t screamed when Judar had grabbed his heart the first time. He hadn’t tried to run away, or started yelling threats like the other exorcists did.

He had looked really familiar too, but Judar isn’t good with faces. He turns the button over a few times, then looks at the engraving. This time, his heart all but stops.

練 白龍

Hakuryuu. Judar would recognize that name anywhere, in any language. Hakuryuu. That exorcist had been Hakuryuu? He didn’t look like the Hakuryuu Judar remembered, what with the scar and the mole and the blue eyes. It wouldn’t be the first life Judar has killed Hakuryuu, but if it’s really him . . . it will be the first time he’s killed Hakuryuu without recognizing him.

Judar clutches the button, concentrating his power. He’s sure the exorcist is dead. But. If Hakuryuu is in touch with his Noah side at all, there’s a chance. . .

Judar sits up in the air. If Hakuryuu survived, they’ll meet again. He knows this. But he’s not patient enough to sit back and wait. Judar will find him, and when he does . . . they’ll tear down the world together.

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
